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I know we had a thread going about this but I could 't find it and so many of us are reader's I wanted to get some more input.

Stuart Woods has a new book out that I want to pick up at Sam's to take with me. Love his Stone Barrington series and the Orchid series.
Lisa Scottolane also has a new one out but haven't seen it yet. I like to listen to the unabridged audiotapes in the car, airplane and by the pool.
Anyone else know of any good reads?

Tuggers - I agree with you about Stewart Woods. I also really like Robert B. Parkers Spenser books, I don't know if there's a new one though. Anything by Nora Roberts is always good and I also like Janet Evanivich's (sp?) books, both the Stephanie Plum and the series she writes with Charlotte Hughes.

How about Herman Wouk's Don't Stop the Carnival? It's good - about a PR man that goes to an island and buys a hotel and the things he encounters. Then, get Jimmy Buffett's CD of the same title to go with the book.

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"When you see the Southern Cross for the first time, you'll understand just why you came this way."

Wouk's Don't Stop the Carnival?
Hey, that is a real oldie. Must be in reprint.
But I agree -- it is hilarious and probably just as timely now as it was 50 years ago. I would not mind reading it again. You have to be reminded of it every time you hit an island.

As for what books to take along. I am such a voracious reader, I devour most anything. I hit the used book store or paperback exchange and pick up four or five likely titles. Then I can leave them behind as I finish eash one. Good mysteries or romances are probably choices-- something light.

Having said that, I am taking along P.J. O'Rourke's "Eat the Rich" -- non-fiction but a comedy -- on my Baltic cruise coming up. He has some choice things to say about Sweden and Russian economies, and I have been hardput not to finish it off before I leave home.

Buta book -- don't leave home without it.

love
joan

P.S. I usually take along a puzzle book for the airplane. I love double acrostics and cryptoquotes, et al, and they occupy my time quite well while flying.

There is a new Spenser book out but I can't recall the name right now. I kind of liked his Sunny Randell series but haven't seen one of those in a while. I was recently looking to see if there were any of the Nameless detective books that were new. Anyone read those? I can't remember if the author is Randisi or Pronzini. Boy, I can't remember s__t today!!

For cruises, I like to bring along a few of the classics. Something about reading Mark Twain on the back deck of a ship is very nice. Also usually pack a few "heavier" books, maybe some on philosophy or spirituality... sometimes I get into them, sometimes the sea and the people are too much of a distraction.

Have also raided the paperbacks that are usually left in an open rack in the ship's library -- have found a few things there I might normally not have read.

My favorite part about vacations - including cruises, is that I find so much time for reading. Five to six books for each cruise and I will run out on a two weeker.

Half Price Books can yield a bonanza. I go to the travel section and look for reads on other peoples travels (I know, I'm an addict for vacations).

Two recent finds that were fun reads are "A Trip to the Beach" by Melinda Blanchard & Robert Blanchard who moved to Anguilla and opened a restaurant on the beach, and "A Winter in the Sun" by Bill Robinson, who sailed with his wife on their 37ft sailboat one winter. Both books were easy, wonderful reads that make me jealous that I still work 9-6/5days a week. If anyone would be interested in either of these, I can send them to you via UPS. Just email me if you are interested @ mjarens@comcast.net

Next up on my reading list for a future vacation are "Searching for Paradise" by Thurston Clarke which is a grand tour of the world's unspoiled Islands and "An Embarrrassment of Mangoes" by Ann Vanderhoof which promises to tell the tale of a 40-something couple that quit their jobs, rent their house out, move to their 42ft sailboat and set sail from Canada for the Caribbean. Both of these books are right up my alley except that I'm still doing the "work" thing. I love to dream when I am cruising!

When not reading travel-logs, I love detective/cop/mystery novels by various writers. And I enjoy those set in locations that we have visited, even as departure points for cruises. It helps when you feel like you know the "terrain".